Liiga Playoffs: KalPa's reign ends in home loss to Ilves in quarter-finals

[p]An overtime win in game five gave [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ilves-tampere/Oh5uGzDT/"]Ilves[/a] two chances to knock [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/kalpa-kuopio/tMuMK6vi/"]KalPa[/a] out, but one was all they required after a decisive five-minute spell midway through the game.[/p][p]Before that, they took the lead in the 13th minute when [b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kucerik-radek/lSb0g1xL/"]Radek Kucerik[/a] went on a one-man mission straight through the middle before burying his shot[/b], but KalPa hit back in the final minute of period one when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kapanen-konsta/Yq9ApiFh/"]Konsta Kapanen[/a] laid the puck back superbly for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/saarelainen-joona/Mufnzbfi/"]Joona Saarelainen[/a] to finish.[/p][p]Talk of a seventh game was in the air five minutes into the second period, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hartikainen-teemu/l2suf0n9/"]Teemu Hartikainen[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/curry-patrick/dv80108m/"]Patrick Curry[/a] combined on the left for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/okany-andreas/6sI4NOC4/"]Andreas Okany[/a] to power KalPa into the lead, but that only served to usher in a dominant period for the Tampere side.[/p][p][b]It took four minutes for Ilves to draw level when John Byberg's pass across was tucked away by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bjorkqvist-kasper/QcJ1dum9/"]Kasper Bjorkqvist[/a][/b], and when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gallet-hugo/INKBTZ1B/"]Hugo Gallet[/a] was called for hooking less than a minute later, [b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pelli-arttu/O8i54ooP/"]Arttu Pelli[/a] exploited the space on the powerplay to set up [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mantykivi-matias/l2eFpoRg/"]Matias Mantykivi[/a] to regain the lead.[/b][/p][embed guid="bb487808-a92f-4247-927f-07837945dd1f" url="https://x.com/smliiga/status/2042986261065941290" social-type="twitter" /][p]Getting back to full strength didn't help the home side, who fell two behind two minutes later when [b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kos-ondrej/n9nWNuT9/"]Ondrej Kos[/a] picked up the puck dumped behind the net and played it back for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/torok-matic/KtWca625/"]Matic Torok[/a] to score when given far too much space by the KalPa defence.[/b][/p][p]Ilves were all but over the line until two-and-a-half minutes left, when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/engberg-teemu/S8r4pVpf/"]Teemu Engberg[/a] was dismissed for elbowing. Hartikainen scored on the powerplay to reduce the deficit to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/hockey/ilves-Oh5uGzDT/kalpa-tMuMK6vi/?mid=YNtgDZbD"]4-3[/a], but his goal three seconds from time was too little, too late for KalPa, whose hold of the Kanada-malja will come to an end.[/p][p]The Lynx progress to the semi-finals, where they were knocked out a year ago by none other than KalPa, but must wait to discover their opponents this time around.[/p][embed guid="9cc43383-f7c7-4b8e-9a95-189a394dd298" url="https://x.com/smliiga/status/2043003936559296682" social-type="twitter" /][p]Last year's runners-up [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/saipa/Q9sYH4O9/"]SaiPa[/a] have kept their season alive with two late goals to secure a key [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/hockey/assat-I9wm5xTA/saipa-Q9sYH4O9/?mid=jVmbCvdT"]3-1[/a] win away at [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/assat-pori/I9wm5xTA/"]Assat[/a] that puts them back in the driving seat with game seven to be played in Lappeenranta on 13th April.[/p][p]The visitors went ahead after just two minutes - [b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/heinila-eemeli/AoGCJHO3/"]Eemeli Heinila[/a] was called for hooking and that was punished on the powerplay by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/airola-santari/bcdmHKu1/"]Santari Airola[/a], whose shot from the blue line evaded a crowd of bodies and sticks to find the net.[/b][/p][p]Just over four minutes later, [b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/talaja-roope/z7ZE7YlC/"]Roope Talaja[/a] continued his fine series when he was perfectly placed to lash [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/knihti-feetu/v5GT48FS/"]Feetu Knihti[/a]'s pass into the net from close range[/b], but that was as good as things got for the Pori side.[/p][p]In fact, neither side looked to be able to find that winning moment, and overtime was less than two minutes away when the decisive third goal finally came. [b]On a sustained attack, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/salminen-saku/pW5SSRaQ/"]Saku Salminen[/a]'s incisive pass across found an unmarked [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kivenmaki-otto/t2HFF6jD/"]Otto Kivenmaki[/a], who put SaiPa back in front.[/b][/p][embed guid="96834ddf-9d00-4379-865e-cabe90a4eb70" url="https://x.com/smliiga/status/2043000505526374712" social-type="twitter" /][p]That forced the Aces to remove their goaltender, but all that served to do was give the away side the chance to wrap up the win, [b]as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/naukkarinen-janne/l2t1dTkd/"]Janne Naukkarinen[/a] found the empty net[/b] under pressure to start the SaiPa celebrations in the final minute.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/hockey/finland/liiga/"]Follow the Liiga Playoffs on Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]